


And all the seasons that will come after

by Ostodvandi



Category: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Post-Canon Fix-It, Post-Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:14:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28322202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ostodvandi/pseuds/Ostodvandi
Summary: Lyon survives the battle in the Darkling Woods. The war is over, and the demon king has been sealed. Ephraim is king of Renais, and has the aid of his sister. But time doesn't stop for either of them, and maybe that's good.
Relationships: Eirika & Lyon (Fire Emblem), Ephraim/Lyon (Fire Emblem)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 17
Collections: Fire Emblem Trans Winter Exchange 2020





	And all the seasons that will come after

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ava_Writes_Alot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ava_Writes_Alot/gifts).



> This is my trans exchange gift to Ava_Writes_Alot!! I tried to stick to your prompt 100%, but it's hard to write pure fluff with this pairing in their canon setting. I still hope you love it, though!

The first chills of Autumn started to blow through Magvel, and, with them, the usual worries for this time of the year: the harvest and the impending snow. Fresh out of a war, the continent would struggle even more than usual in the colder months. 

Ephraim had been educated since birth to take care of these problems, but his teachers hadn’t considered a war. They hadn’t contemplated the chance of Grado going to war with Renais, much less the whole continent. They hadn’t taken into account a second coming of the demon king.

They hadn’t contemplated that, after all of those impossibles, he and his sister would still be looking at Lyon as he exposed a meticulous plan on how to evacuate and relocate the remaining Grado citizens before the foretold calamity wiped the whole country away. 

The core concept wasn’t that complicated: people would be running away from Grado’s crumbling lands, and all Ephraim and Eirika would have to do was offer asylum. It was the specifics that were difficult, giving both siblings a headache. How to make the common people of Renais accept them, how to manage already limited supplies, and so on.

Lyon himself looked tired, with deep shadows under his eyes, as he stared at the map laid before him.

‘You should rest,’ Ephraim said, getting Lyon’s attention. 

His purple eyes stared at Ephraim for a while before they looked away, Lyon getting up from his seat.

‘I will, then,’ he said, and, even if he was conceding to Ephraim’s wishes, Ephraim himself couldn’t feel happy about it.

Lyon’s voice sounded distant, subdued, devoid of any emotion that wasn’t exhaustion. It had been like that ever since he woke up weeks ago, coming back from the brink of death after his body had been thoroughly rotted by the Demon King’s presence. It would take a lifetime to heal, Princess L’Arachel had said, and Lyon had never been physically strong to begin with. 

Ephraim and Eirika watched as their friend grabbed a cane and leaned into it with a long sigh. Unable to help himself, Ephraim rushed to his side. ‘Do you want me to accompany you?’

‘No,’ Lyon’s reply was immediate, and Ephraim retreated a step. Lyon breathed in and out, slowly, and there was a tinge of remorse to his voice when he spoke again. ‘Knoll is waiting for me outside.’

Ephraim stood frozen on the spot. Sure enough, when Lyon opened the door, Knoll’s voice could be heard from the outside, and he took a peek inside before taking the prince back to his bedroom. Their steps soon disappeared into the silence of Renais castle. 

Eirika tapped Ephraim’s shoulder. ‘Brother?’

Ephraim blinked, startled, and shook his head. The words that he could’ve said - _I’m fine, everything’s fine, I’m worried about Lyon_ \- never rolled out of his throat, and made a mess inside of it instead.

In the end, he walked out of the room and stared at the empty hallway, all too late to watch Lyon go.

* * *

Even something as natural as the seasons needed time to change, so, naturally, some other things would remain the same. It was under this impression that Ephraim entered the library that morning and scanned through the shelves filled with books he’d never come to pick up on his own. He looked through all sorts of topics, but in the end, settled on fairy tales. 

With a decent number of books in his arms, he made his way to Lyon’s bedroom and knocked on the door. Knoll was the one who opened it, warily peeking outside. His whole demeanor changed when he noticed the current king of Renais standing outside, carrying a stack of books. 

‘Your Majesty,’ the mage said, blinking in surprise. He then turned his head, waiting for some sort of approval, and stood aside, allowing Ephraim in.

Lyon had asked for a simple bedroom, insisting that a bed to rest and a desk to work on were enough for him. Nothing more and nothing less, and that’s what they offered him: a rather small chamber, ridiculously small for the prince that was to sleep inside, but Lyon had stopped caring about such things.

The desk was what Ephraim would describe as an organized mess. One of the windows was open, letting in some fresh air and sunlight. Both things Lyon sorely needed. The Grado prince himself was in bed, hair a mess, dark circles under his eyes. 

Ephraim opened his mouth and then closed it, considering his words. In the end, he left the books on Lyon’s nightstand and sucked in a deep breath. ‘Were you sleeping?’

The situation might have been awkward, but it didn’t really show on Lyon’s face. He stared at the books and shook his head before silently taking one in his hands, avoiding Ephraim’s gaze. ‘I was just resting.’

Ephraim hummed, watching as Lyon looked over the pages in the book without uttering a word. So it fell to Ephraim to continue the conversation. ‘Tell me later what you thought about them, if you want,’ he said, and Lyon’s eyes finally looked at him. 

‘Will do,’ he promised, his voice weary and careful. 

Ephraim wanted to go on and warn him against working himself too hard, because Eirika and him were working on it and Lyon should focus on his recovery. He wanted to tell him he missed him, that he still missed him as they were talking.

In the end, he settled for something simpler and hoped Lyon would catch all those feelings in the meager three words he said: ‘Alright. Rest well.’

* * *

The days passed. Ephraim had few chances to visit Lyon again, swarmed by kingly duties even with Eirika’s assistance. Lyon never showed up for meals, but Knoll insisted on the need for some fresh air and sunlight before the days got dark and the winds grew even colder. So Ephraim occasionally saw him sitting under a tree in one of the palace’s courtyards, Knoll sitting on one side and a pile of familiar books on the other.

He even saw him smile once, and Ephraim’s heart jumped in his chest.

‘These, I…’ Lyon was saying, with that nostalgic smile on his lips. ‘I remember reading through them with Eirika, some with Ephraim too…’

Knoll’s eyes were on the prince as he spoke. ‘Then, Your Highness… perhaps they would be better company than me for this.’

The smile disappeared, and instead, Lyon’s mouth opened, and his eyes widened. It only lasted a few seconds, but Ephraim took all of it in. 

‘Maybe you’re right,’ Lyon conceded, closing the book. Ephraim walked away at a fast pace, like a criminal that had almost been caught red-handed. He held that nostalgic smile in his mind, even if it made his heart hurt and his lungs beg for air. 

* * *

On an especially warm autumn morning, a third person showed up in the dining hall. Lyon still walked with his cane, struggling to stand on his feet, and Eirika rushed to offer him a seat, keeping her questions to herself. Ephraim stayed silent too, having enough with Lyon’s presence.

As they waited for the meal to be served, Ephraim tried to not look too hard or too long at Lyon, but his eyes always drifted back to him. Lyon’s fingers fidgeted with his hair, and his lips were pursed, refusing to break the strange silence between the trio.

‘The weather has been good lately,’ Eirika started, ‘for this time of the year, anyway.’

Lyon nodded, and Ephraim hummed, and Eirika’s valiant attempt fell flat. But much to the twins’ surprise, Lyon was the next person to talk.

‘I… Ephraim brought me some books to read,’ he murmured. Eirika perked up immediately, and Ephraim put all his attention on him. ‘They were very familiar… I think we read them together at some point.’

‘You’ll have to tell me which ones those are,’ Eirika replied with a gentle smile on her face. ‘The few times you visited in the past you’d scan through the whole library…’

Lyon hummed, and Ephraim noticed the smallest curve at the corner of his lips. Could it be his imagination? Had he wanted to see him smile again so bad that he was imagining things? 

‘I don’t remember the title at the moment… It was an anthology. It was refreshing.’

Anyone passing by and paying no attention to the conversation wouldn’t have even noticed Lyon was talking, and yet it was all Ephraim could hear. That elusive grin stayed on his mind through the rest of the meal, which went by in silence, and Lyon gave up on his plate halfway through it. But Ephraim could tell his sister was just as relieved as he was. To just hear Lyon speak of something that wasn’t the relocation and rebuilding plans… 

It felt like a miracle.

* * *

Ephraim wiped the sweat off his brow and sucked in a deep breath. His lungs burned in his chest, and his muscles hurt from the exertion. And yet it felt beyond satisfying. Ever since his rushed coronation, he barely had time to train properly, and now he had finally managed to sneak a good amount of it into his schedule. 

But now that the time was up. He left the iron lance in its place in the rack, walking out of the training grounds. His mind should’ve been on the warm bath that was waiting for him, but it drifted to Lyon instead. 

As winter came over Renais, Lyon made a habit out of eating with the twins. He wouldn’t say much, sometimes nothing at all, but his presence and the knowledge that he was alright was enough to turn Ephraim’s days a little brighter.

The sound of Lyon’s cane knocking against the ground pulled him out of his thoughts, and as if summoned by them, the man himself appeared on the hallway.

‘Lyon,’ Ephraim called without really thinking. Lyon looked up, suddenly realizing that Ephraim had appeared in front of him, and blinked a couple times before looking away.

‘Ephraim,’ he said back in a long sigh.

Neither of them moved, waiting for the other to say something. Ephraim noticed something under Lyon’s free arm. ‘Oh, that book…’

‘Hm? Oh,’ Lyon showed it to him. ‘It’s… There was only this one left… I was taking it back to the library.’

‘Did you like it?’

‘Very much,’ Lyon replied, and Ephraim saw that elusive grin on his face again. _So handsome_ , he thought. ‘Some of those… I already knew about.’ He sighed, like he was having trouble standing. Ephraim suppressed the impulse to help him out. ‘I’ll be on my way.’

Ephraim nodded and watched him go, walking on stubbornly. How odd that Knoll wasn’t around to accompany him this time. 

Not even a bathtub filled with warm water could distract him from the brief conversation with Lyon and the memories that swarmed back into his mind after it. Ephraim had never been a fan of reading - it was too arduous to focus for so long, and the words danced and mixed in front of his eyes before he could process them. But when it was Lyon’s voice narrating them, it was different. Everything came together so easily. The words would bend under Lyon’s will, and so would Ephraim’s scattered mind.

Maybe he had been in love with him from the start, when Lyon was even shyer and went by a different name. Back then, the candlelight had illuminated his face deep into the night, and Ephraim had been mesmerized.

He still was. Not even the war had crushed such a naive feeling. Ephraim stared at the ceiling, imagining Lyon looking through the library, eyes wide and glimmering with excitement, and Ephraim’s lips curled into a smile.

He had it bad. If Eirika caught sight of this, he wouldn’t see the end of it. 

* * *

He barely felt it. The origin of the earthquake was far, far away from the capital of Renais, so at most it was a weird feeling under his feet, water inside a cup shaking slightly. But for Lyon, the same sensations were his worst nightmares coming true.

It started as they sat down for another meal. He noticed Lyon’s gasp first, and then his hand, extended towards a glass of water, frozen when its fingers were about to curl around the glass. Lyon stood up from his chair, dropping his cane, and Ephraim stared, puzzled as to what could’ve triggered such a reaction in Lyon.

Eirika too gasped. ‘The table, its…’ It shook slightly, not enough for anyone that wasn’t paying attention to notice. But it wasn’t just the table: The whole castle wobbled a little with the people inside it, and Ephraim’s first instinct was to pull his sister and Lyon close.

Miles and miles away from Renais castle, Grado must’ve started falling apart.

The quakes went on until the sun rose the next morning. Ephraim ordered that the foundations of Renais castle be renovated and strengthened, and Eirika said something about rescuing efforts to the Grado citizens that hadn’t taken up on Renais’ offer of asylum. The quake shouldn’t have caused many problems within Renais itself, but the people closer to the border with Grado could be in trouble, as well.

It had been one incident that they were already expecting, but it came sooner than they ever expected. Hadn’t Knoll mentioned something about how it’d take years? Why would the calamity come faster? Ephraim had no time to think about such details, however. Foundations and rescuing included, he had a million things to do, and there was the risk for more earthquakes.

By the time the sun set, his brain had turned into a disgusting mush that could barely process words, written or spoken. It was also the time he found Lyon standing by a window, leaning on the windowsill. Knoll stood by his side, looking at the floor until he noticed Ephraim’s presence.

It was late into the night, and the landscape outside was pitch black, clouds covering the moon and stars. Knoll opened his mouth and then closed it, his gaze alternating between Ephraim and Lyon, trying to warn him of something, but stood aside in the end.

‘Lyon,’ Ephraim called, standing next to him. What could he possibly say to make him feel better? If Renais were in the same situation as Grado, what would he like to be told? And even if he could think of something, Lyon was different. And Ephraim had had enough chances to realize he didn’t know Lyon as well as he thought.

Still, he had to try something. Anything. ‘Eirika is travelling to the border to rescue as many people as possible. Other nations should be mobilizing as well.’

Lyon sighed, curling his fingers. ‘It’s my fault,’ he said, voice so hoarse his throat must have been raw. ‘The calamity came before it should because of me.’

Ephraim frowned. ‘You can’t just blame yourself for everyth-’

‘You don’t understand.’ Lyon didn’t raise his voice, but Ephraim took a step back anyway. Lyon’s clenched fist hit the windowsill, and he flinched in pain. ‘The… Awakening of the Demon King, it… Probably accelerated the process.’

‘Probably,’ Ephraim stressed. ‘It’s just a theory, isn’t it? It isn’t necessarily true until something proves it.’

Lyon sighed again, rubbing his hand. ‘Now even more people than expected are going to die. All because of my foolishness.’

‘You’re no fool,’ Ephraim said, walking closer. ‘And you wanted to protect them. Ever since you woke up, you’ve been trying to make amends-’

‘It wasn’t enough,’ Lyon snapped, turning to Ephraim, and their eyes met. Was this the first time they had looked at each other directly after he woke up? It might just have been. Ephraim held his gaze, watching the tears glimmering on the corners of Lyon’s eyes, yet not a single one fell. 

After several seconds of hesitation, Ephraim put his hands on Lyon’s arms, giving them a light squeeze. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘You’re not the one... that should be sorry,’ Lyon murmured, letting himself collapse against Ephraim’s body. He buried his face in his shoulder, and Ephraim held him tightly, afraid he might fall apart if he let go.

* * *

Finding some free time got even harder for Ephraim after the disaster: Most of winter had flown by between the rescuing efforts by Renais, Jehanna, and Rausten; and the plans for rebuilding that were already in Lyon’s mind. Most people wouldn’t have high hopes on that particular idea. The disaster had been brutal and thorough, and the dead were many despite the displaced. 

But Ephraim wouldn’t give up, and knew Eirika wouldn’t either. They’d just have to find a way to keep people content and safe while Lyon’s wonderful brain was at work. It didn’t matter how long it took, they would get there.

For now, he had managed to squeeze a meager hour of free time between two commitments, and was making the most out of it. His muscles burned with the pain typical to someone that hasn’t trained in a long time, and it felt good. A particularly good thrust with his spear made him smirk. He moved his feet for another strike, when he saw something strange from the corner of his eye.

Lyon was there, sitting down and away from the sunlight, holding his cane and looking directly at him. Knoll stood by his side, as he almost always did. Ephraim stopped on his tracks, and Lyon noticed, eyes widening.

‘Sorry for interrupting,’ he said, looking away from him. Ephraim felt a little disappointed when he did. 

‘You’re not interrupting me,’ Ephraim assures him. ‘I’m happy to see you.’

Maybe the day was too cold, because Lyon’s cheeks got a little rosier. It made Ephraim feel a certain type of way. ‘Knoll insisted I should walk outside a little more. So I did.’

‘He asked where Your Majesty was,’ Knoll said, deadpan as always. Yet Lyon’s face got redder, and Ephraim’s heart beat faster. He pushed it all to the back of his mind, he could dwell on that later. 

‘I did,’ Lyon admitted. ‘I didn’t really have much to do…’ he explained, although there was nothing to explain, not to him. Anything Lyon did, as long as it didn’t hurt him or others, was fine by him. 

‘Maybe when you feel better you could come here to practice magic, or something.’

Knoll bit his lower lip, and Lyon’s face darkened for a second. Then he sighed, sounding resigned. ‘Right. You wouldn’t know - I can’t use magic anymore.’

Ephraim swallowed. Oh, he had screwed up, and he had nothing to say that wouldn’t sound like he was pitying him or making light of this situation. Before he could apologize, Lyon continued. ‘I’m lucky to be alive as it is,’ as he talked, a small smile appeared on his face, ‘and maybe it was for the best.’

_This way, I can’t hurt people the way I did anymore_ , was what Ephraim heard hidden in Lyon’s words. But it was something else in them that caught his attention: _I’m lucky to be alive as it is_.

He felt lucky to be alive. Ephraim’s chest grew warmer.

‘I’m going back to my room,’ Lyon announced, standing up with the help of his cane, and taking in a deep breath.

‘Right,’ Ephraim said in a low voice. ‘I’ll see you at lunch?’

Lyon gave him a small smile and left, followed by Knoll, who gifted Ephraim a rather intense look before turning the corner.

* * *

Spring came slowly, pushing the cold out from Renais castle. It would still take a while for the rivers to thaw, and some regions like Frelia would still have a month of cold weather. But Ephraim felt grateful for the season, as the sun stayed longer in the sky.

It also meant Lyon would walk outside more often as the threat of a cold grew less likely and allergies had yet to appear. It was on one of these mildly sunny days that Lyon walked into the dining room and made Eirika gasp.

Ephraim turned his head to look in the direction of her eyes, and his mouth hung open as soon as he saw.

Lyon was standing there as he did almost every day, making his way to his usual seat on the dining table. Ephraim’s eyes would always follow him, some days more subtly than others, but that day he just couldn’t not stare.

Lyon had cut his hair up to his ears, and now started fidgeting with it. The bags under his eyes had been fading away as of late, too. ‘It was getting bothersome, so…’

‘It looks good on you,’ Eirika said, and Ephraim had never agreed this much with her before. ‘Did Knoll cut it?’

‘...I… Tried to do it myself.’ And by his tone, it hadn’t been a sound idea. ‘And he fixed it.’

‘Well, you both did a great job,’ Eirika complimented, gently kicking Ephraim’s shin under the table. Ephraim groaned, keeping a swear to himself.

It wasn’t like he didn’t like it. Quite the opposite. He didn’t know what to say. But he had to get something out of his throat, or Eirika would kill him, or, even worse, Lyon would think he didn’t look gorgeous. Which he did.

‘You look,’ he mumbled, looking away to focus on the simmering soup in front of him. And still it must have not been as hot as his face. ‘Very good. It’s a great look on you.’

Lyon laughed - a short, nervous laugh that would’ve made Ephraim faint if he were weaker - and cleared his throat. ‘We should get to eating.’

Eirika sighed, shaking her head, and gave Ephraim a look that reminded him of the way Knoll stared at him back at the training grounds months ago. ‘We should.’

* * *

The days warmed further, and Ephraim saw Lyon more often. Sometimes he'd sit under the shade of that tree in the courtyard, holding a book and several papers on his lap, his cane lying close by on the grass. His face was almost always half covered by a scarf, but his eyes looked awake despite the eyebags under them. It made a gorgeous picture that Ephraim would stop to stare at from time to time, and even join if he could.

The garden around the Renais castle started flourishing too, despite the war that had ravaged it not so long ago. The sun fell especially hard on the day they strolled around it, and Ephraim held a parasol over Lyon's head. Knoll stayed behind, giving no explanation as to why despite how protective he always was of Lyon. Still, Ephraim didn't dwell on it too much, focusing on his friend beside him.

'It's amazing,' Lyon muttered, squatting next to a bush where some buds were growing. 'The colors are so vivid. It's hard to believe all of this was...'

Burned down less than two years ago. It was hard to believe for Ephraim as well. 'Yeah. Eirika told me the whole thing was burned down... back then.'

He was aware the war was still, and will likely always be, a thorny subject to mention around Lyon. And his friend had this bad habit of keeping most of his thoughts to himself, most of all the ones that would hurt and fester in his mind.

'But I guess,' Ephraim continued, 'even something that has been destroyed so thoroughly can recover.'

'Do you think so?' Lyon murmured, with a gravity to his voice that made Ephraim scared he might have said the wrong thing. It was hard to not screw up conversations like these.

'Yes,' Ephraim replied. 'I'm sure of it.'

Lyon sighed, standing up and leaning into his cane. His eyes were avoiding Ephraim's again. 'You know, back then... I admired you immensely. When we were younger. Even before we met, I... Father would tell me about Eirika, and about you, and I remember wanting to be like you.' Ephraim blinked. But before he could say anything, Lyon continued. 'I suppose it's because I always wanted to be a boy in general, and you were... My father would always describe you as the epitome of what being a young man was like. And I could never be that. It's just not in me.'

Ephraim swallowed through the knot in his throat. Those words were familiar because they had come from Ephraim's own mouth, months ago. 'Yes.'

'And since I couldn't be you, I envied you instead. No matter what I did to become more comfortable with myself, I could never measure up to you. And now I for sure won't ever be able to.' He then turned to Ephraim, meeting his eyes, and sucked in a deep breath. 'I don't know where I'm going with this, but... I am sorry. For all the trouble.'

Ephraim pursed his lips, and used his free hand to take Lyon's, giving it a light squeeze. 'When I told you that, back in the Darkling Woods, I wasn't just saying it for you, you know... It was also for myself.'

Lyon frowned. 'Yourself?'

Ephraim hummed. 'I have failings too, you know that well. I'm not good at my studies, and... Eirika would make a better monarch than me. She understands the people better than me. I'm good in a fight, I can win a war, I crave fighting, but I don't want any more wars. The people of Magvel have suffered enough.' Lyon listened, putting all his attention on Ephraim's words, and that for some reason made him embarrassed. 'If you were worried about not being strong, I was worried about not being wise or kind enough. And you were- _are_ both of those things.'

Much to his surprise, Lyon chuckled. 'This is starting to sound familiar.'

‘Uh? From where?’

‘There was one time when you pointed this out too… It was a few years ago.’ Ephraim was starting to recall it. What age had they been back then? Seventeen? ‘And you said that if only both of us could reign together… Or something like that.’

‘Right.’ _If only the both of us could rule together._ He hadn’t thought it through before saying it, but he still agreed with the idea. ‘I remember. You replied things weren’t so simple.’

‘They aren’t,’ Lyon said, covering his smile with his hand, his cheeks turning pink. ‘Looking back, it sounded like you were proposing.’

‘Proposing?’ Ephraim repeated without thinking, and his own face grew warmer. 

‘That is the only way two people can rule together, isn’t it?’ Lyon replied. ‘It’s alright. I never thought you meant that.’

Maybe not back then, but if he were to say it at that very moment, maybe he would.

No, he for sure would. 

‘The next time I say it,’ he said, extending a hand to touch Lyon’s hair, ‘I’ll mean it.’ His hand then cupped Lyon’s cheek, and Lyon’s eyes didn’t look away from his. ‘And you don’t have to answer in the moment, I just… I think you should know. That I do still love you. I always have.’

Lyon leaned into the touch and sighed. ‘I’ve asked too much of you as it is,’ he muttered, ‘but would you also give me some time?’

‘All the time you need, Lyon.’ 

Lyon smiled and closed his eyes, covering Ephraim’s hand with his. As the evening ended and a cold wind rose, they walked back inside the castle together.

And for the first time, Ephraim knew for sure they would be all right.


End file.
